Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I fully appreciate that, and I am not being argumentative. I am simply asking about those people whose companies have not started back working yet. The restrictions may have been lifted, but some companies are in the process of coming back into operation. Supports are still in place for companies and for workers. It strikes me that for as long as people are receiving a Covid-19-related benefit and are not in work, then that should be the mechanism by which it is judged. I refer to the last Covid-19-related benefits being paid in the context where people want to go to work but cannot, and that that type of situation should be linked. I appreciate that might be difficult to do. There are people, however, who are in this type of situation. The numbers might be small, but that was also true for the cases I highlighted. It does not mean that the consequences have not been grave for each individual affected.

There must be a cut-off date, and I am not suggesting for a moment that this provision would be openended or indefinite at all. I am only asking that consideration perhaps be given, not on this Stage, but when we are doing the final Stages, to those people who are currently laid off. I refer to people who may be laidoff and on Covid-19-related benefits. They should be encompassed by this legislation. I think the numbers are small. Again, I am not trying to say that these measures should be openended and last forever. They should, however, last for the duration of the Covid-19 benefits because they are specifically linked to Covid-19 related lay-offs.

We could find ourselves here in a year or two going back over the cases of people, a small number, who found themselves in difficulty regarding what might technically be considered a break in service. People receiving a Covid-19-related benefit because they are not in work, who then go back to work and find themselves made redundant, will not have this period of service considered in the same way it was for everybody else. It may be that this may not turn out to be an issue. Hopefully, everyone will go back to work and find they will not need redundancy payments. It strikes me, though, that a small number of people may end up in that situation and I ask that consideration be given to them.